Christianity Revealed

According to its home page, this site actively opposes all religious extremism, anti-science and irrational thought. But its main focus is Christianity, or more specifically, the perceived harm which its author believes has been done to the world by Christians.

A good overview of the site’s agenda is revealed by the titles of the various articles. For example, one article is called: “Christianity: A Religion Of Fear, Not Love — Of Lies, Not Truth!”. Another title is: “Convert to Christianity or Die”, apparently a reference to forced conversions of native peoples in lands conquered and settled by Christians. As another example, a section called “1001 Errors in the Christian Bible” actually enumerates a full 1001 purported inconsistencies and errors along with explanations of each one.

One long article called “The Religion of Love” discusses the perceived contradition between the Christian belief that God is all-loving and all-merciful, and another belief that the souls of some people will suffer eternal torment in hell. To quote from the article: “Christianity claims God loves them unconditionally, but will burn them in hell forever if they do not believe.”

To visit this site, go to Christianity Revealed.

The Dark Side of Religion

According to this article, a recent study indicates that countries with the highest percentage of Christians also tend to be the countries with the highest crime rates. The study, which was conducted by Gregory S. Paul, looks at the connection between levels of religiosity in a country and various social problems. Eighteen democratic nations, including the United States, were included in the survey.

The study ranked countries based on the percentage of their population expressing belief in God and regularly attending religious services. This ranking was then correlated with a measure of social dysfunction based on homicide rates, teenage pregnancy, sexually propagated diseases, abortion and child mortality.

The study found that “the most religious democracies exhibited substantially higher degrees of social dysfunction than societies with larger percentages of atheists and agnostics.” In particular, the United States, which has a much higher percentage of regular church-goers than any of the other countries in the study, also has far higher levels of homicide, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and abortion.

To read the full article, go to Religion’s Dark Side.

Lost Gospels of Christianity

I just finished reading an interesting article about the lost gospels of early Christianity. According to the article, more than 20 non-biblical gospels were written altogether, but most of them disappeared within a few centuries. Actually, copies of several of them did survive, but their locations were unknown until they were rediscovered in modern times. And the article mentions the possibility that more could be found in the future.

I was surprised to learn that traces of several lost gospels can be found within the New Testament. These traces were discovered by scholars who realized that the authors of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John must have obtained some of their information from earlier sources which no longer survive. Evidently it is even possible to reconstruct some of the content of these lost works by identifying the copied material.

We know about some lost gospels because ancient writers mentioned their names and sometimes discussed their content. Many of these gospels were mentioned in order to warn Christians that they contained heretical ideas. In several cases writers encouraged Christians to destroy these non-conforming books, and that could be one reason they disappeared.

The article also discusses some previously-lost gospels which have been rediscovered in recent centuries. Actually, in most cases only fragments and/or translations have been found. Because several of these rediscovered gospels present unorthodox views of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Judas Iscariot, they have generated debates among biblical scholars and controversy in the public press.

This website also contains a number of other articles relating to various mysteries of the bible. You can find it here. Some of the articles include reproductions of famous works of art.

Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth

The basic premise of this site is that early Christianity borrowed many of its ideas from the pagan religions found in various ancient Mediterranean societies. In support of this premise, the site gives numerous examples of beliefs and practices which Christianity shares with these pagan religions.

In a section called “Ancient Christs”, the author of the site points out similarities between beliefs about Jesus and beliefs about some other famous men of the ancient world. For example, various ancient historians described Alexander the Great, Scipio Africanus, and many Roman emperors as the son of a god and a virgin woman. Other “ancient Christs” described in the section include Glycon, Zalmoxis, Pythagoras, Kore, and Attis. But probably the closest match to Jesus was Apollonius of Tyrana. According to the site, the followers of Apollonius reported that he drove out demons, healed the sick, raised a dead girl to life, and was resurrected himself after being put to death by the Romans.

Another section of the site called “Pagan Ideas” describes specific concepts and ideas which Christianity may have borrowed from other religions. These include baptism, angels, prophesy, souls, belief in one god, virgin births, miracle healings, hell, demonic possession, and the possibility that a dead person can be resurrected back to life again.

In my opinion this site makes a good case for its premise that Christianity incorporates some pagan ideas. To visit the site, go to Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth.

The Rapture Index

My first reaction to this website was to smile. But unfortunately the people who created it are serious . Apparently they believe that the world as we know it is about to come to an end. And they have created the Rapture Index as an indicator of just how close to the end we are.

The index is based on various “Signs of the End Times.” These signs can be categorized as political events, social developments, economic trends, and natural disasters. The most Important political events are actions by Israel, Russia (Gog), Iran (Persia), and the European Union (Beast Government). Significant natural disasters include floods, earthquakes, droughts, famines, plagues, climate change, etc. Important economic indicators are the price of oil, interest rates, debt, and inflation. Social developments include drug abuse, liberalism, satanism, moral decline, crime rate, and the appearance of false prophets.

One unusual indicator is the “mark of the beast”. This refers to a method that the Antichrist will use in his plan to control the world. Some people think that it will be a computer chip implanted in peoples’ hands or foreheads to monitor their movements and activitives. It could also be used for monitary transactions. The mark of the beast indicator climbs as the technology for creating such a chip improves.

Apparently some people are glad that the Rapture Index has been steadily rising, because this means that the end is drawing closer. These true believers want the end to come soon, because they believe that they will be raptured to the safety of Heaven, thereby avoiding the horrors of the Great Tribulation and the End Times.